


Enough

by allgeneralizationsarebs



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 1D Genderswap, F/F, Genderswap, Larriet Stylinson, Larry Stylinson Genderswap, One Direction Genderswap, larry stylinson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-15
Updated: 2014-10-15
Packaged: 2018-02-21 06:00:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2457458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allgeneralizationsarebs/pseuds/allgeneralizationsarebs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louise Tomlinson debates whether to go public about her relationship with Harriet Styles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enough

_#LARRIET IS REAL._

Louise's finger hovers over the _tweet_ button. With one little touch, she could change everything. Those three little words would cause international scandal, personal upheaval, and a whole tourbus-load of trouble with Management.

She glances over at the prone figure beside her, the messy brown curls and the slender betatted frame, so peaceful in the soft, steady rise and fall of breath. Harriet sleeps on her stomach, arms crossed under the pillow on which the left side of her face is currently resting. Underneath those long lashes, Louise knows, lie the gentlest, most beautiful brown eyes on the planet.

In the beginning, the rumors didn't trouble Management too much. Initially, in fact, they were _just what we need_. It was _Fake lesbians are cool_. It was _Look what it did for Katy Perry_ and _Remember those Russian girls – wossname, t.A.T.u_.

Louise does remember t.A.T.u. Their video ignited some powerful flames in her barely-pubescent sexuality, and contributed to her lifelong enthusiasm for Catholic schoolgirl outfits. She still recalls the deflation, the then-inexplicable disappointment of t.A.T.u.'s admission of heterosexuality. (Her bandmates had to google them.) For all the girls, but for Harriet and Louise in particular, it was easy, even delightful, to make the suggestive comments and gestures that could imply homoeroticism while maintaining plausible deniability.

As they grew exponentially more popular, rising to international stardom, Management's tune changed. Suddenly it was _Tone it down, girls_. It was _The lesbian thing was what it was, but keep it PG_ and _We've got to think about the international market_. Before long, it was _You two are a problem_ and _Something has to be done about this_.

What was done about it was Alan. Thinking about Alan constricts Louise's chest with guilt and misery. Oh, she loves him, that part is no lie, but not in the way they present it for the cameras. Not in the way Alan loves her. Nell and Lia and Zaynab and Harriet are her best mates in the world, no question, but sometimes she craves male companionship – again, not in the way the others might – and Alan is like a brother to her. Like the little brothers who she misses so achingly, who helped shape her tomboy's childhood. Sometimes she looks at the paparazzi snaps of half-hearted hand-holding and grim-set faces, and she's amazed that anyone really believes she's dating Harriet's old friend.

Harriet shifts in her sleep, grumbling and rubbing her face into her pillow like a dozy cat. She arches her back adorably, and then flops back into position, facing Louise once more. Louise has to suppress a giggle at the sight of the epic pout on her slumbering sweetheart's face.

A great wave of affection suddenly overwhelms her, and she can't control the urge to lean over Harriet's body and peek at her left bicep. Her breath flutters the tiny hairs on the nape of Harriet's neck as she cranes in. She can just make out the top of the little inked _Hi_ in her own handwriting. The sight floods her with warmth, and she reflexively rubs her right forearm where Harriet's _OOPS!_ is marked. A Hollywood screenwriter couldn't have scripted a better meetcute than theirs.

Louise bends closer, brushing her lips against the back of Harriet's neck with the lightest touch. Harriet's answering murmur is almost a purr.

The phone is still in Louise's hand, the three words still on the screen, hovering in unsent textual limbo. She looks from the prospective tweet to Harriet's now relaxed and softened face, and back again. She envisions sending it out, really pictures it: the instantaneous millions of likes and retweets, the furious phone calls from Management, the headlines splashed all over websites and telly screens and newsstands, the fan outrage, the fan bliss, the media circus, the endless questions, the endless judgments, the endless commentary… The fantasy is so vivid that her heart is thudding, her suspended finger shaking.

Harriet is the one who has always wanted to be open about the relationship. It's Harriet who makes the cheeky comments, pushes the boundaries in interviews, and causes Management headaches. Louise is sassy in her own way, of course, but she's inclined to keep the private, well, _private_. She doesn't want the pressure, the furore, the blowback that will affect innocent Nell and Lia and Zaynab. Of course she dreams of openness, but that's just what it is: a dream. She's a realist, and she knows that when you're one-fifth of the biggest girlband in the world, you don't get to do the things other girls do.

And really, it's not so bad the way it is. No one is all up in their privacy (well, they are, but not the way they would be if _two members of the world's biggest girlband came out about their lesbian relationship!!_ ). Alan provides a smokescreen so their relationship can be the one thing that's just _theirs_ , free from public scrutiny and teen magazines and fan memorization (well, apart from the internet's contingent of devoted Larriet believers, but there are far more fans who dismiss them as delusional). They can actually get away with an awful lot of flirting, cuddling, and declarations of love without raising any suspicion: it's all _Why_ wouldn't _the girls be incredibly close, they spend all their time together_ and _Young women are touchy-feely, that's just the way girls are_ … But Harriet, for all of her sweetness, gives zero shits about privacy and paparazzi and mums and brothers and anyone else's opinion. Harriet would shout her love for Louise from the rooftops tomorrow if Louise gave her the go-ahead. It's easy for Harriet, though, Louise sometimes thinks (though she feels awful for thinking it), because she could just date a man. If a bisexual celebrity is dating someone of the opposite sex, everyone conveniently forgets about their sexuality; but if you're a gay celebrity, you're _a GAY celebrity_ , you're always _the GAY one_ , _GAY GAY GAY_. Louise isn't ashamed of her sexuality, though God knows Management would prefer it if she were, but she doesn't want it to define her.

With a sigh, Louise lies back. Harriet's breath is soft on her cheek. Harriet's slim body is warm against hers. Harriet, just Harriet, all of Harriet, is there, and she is hers. Suddenly Louise realizes: out, closeted, making people happy, angering them – none of it matters. What matters is Harriet and Louise, right here, right now. Larriet _is_ real, regardless of whether she tweets about it.

This is what matters, and, for now, it is enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [Thea's analysis of Larry Stylinson.](http://charlie2cute.livejournal.com/tag/larry%20stylinson)


End file.
